Mitchell 35, Gilgeous-Alexander 28 as a short-handed Thunder shoot 55 per cent
Ajay Mitchell scored a career-high 35 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 28 as the Thunder beat the Grizzlies 128-97 in an NBA Cup game in Memphis.
The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
Oklahoma City came into Friday without Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams, and it still led by 25 points before halftime and by 32 early in the third quarter while shooting 55 per cent from the floor.
The first half that decided the game
The career high arrived in the least dramatic way possible. Mitchell took 20 shots for 35 points, found five assists and was on the floor for a plus-33 stretch as Oklahoma City pulled away.
Mitchell had been averaging 21.6 points across the five games before this one, and the Thunder's injury list has handed him a permanent share of the second-creator duties.
Oklahoma City was converting 69 per cent of its shots through the first half, including nine of 17 from three-point range, and it left the locker room 71-49 in front.
Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 28 on 11-of-22 shooting with four assists, three rebounds and a block after scoring 43 and 42 in Oklahoma City's two wins over Cleveland.
Jared McCain supplied 21 points from 9 of 14 and four steals, and the Thunder finished with 16 of 35 from three-point range at 46 per cent.
Twenty-two per cent from the league's best shooting team
Memphis came in first in the NBA from three-point range and shot 5 of 26 in the first half, ending 10 of 45. The gap between those two facts is roughly the score.
Oklahoma City forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 30 points, and Memphis recorded no blocks on a night it shot 29 of 88 from the floor.
This is now 16 consecutive wins against Memphis, a run that includes the four-game sweep in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.
Ty Jerome led the Grizzlies with 21 points and five of five from the free-throw line; Zach Edey added 14 points on 3 of 7 shooting with eight free throws and four offensive rebounds.
The rookie big men had the night's starkest contrast: Boozer 2 of 14 from the field and Post 0 of 7, together 18 of the Grizzlies' 59 misses.
Records, injuries and what comes next
The Thunder improved to 7-2 and kept their home record intact at 4-0, while the Grizzlies dropped to 6-3 with a 2-3 mark at FedExForum.
Memphis was missing Isaiah Stewart and Scotty Pippen Jr., and with no blocks on the night it never had a chance to change a shot at either end. The Thunder scored 62 points in the paint.
Isaiah Hartenstein scored two points but delivered seven assists and finished plus-31, the highest rating on either side.
Beyond that, Bennett Stirtz added 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting with two steals, and Alex Caruso finished with six rebounds and a plus-23 in 20 minutes off the bench.
Up next: the Thunder host the Washington Wizards on Saturday, and the Grizzlies travel to Toronto for Monday's fixture.
Editor's take: NBA Cup group games are supposed to be the ones teams play badly. Both coaches will have seen enough Friday to want the December stakes to arrive early.
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